Teamwork
by Dear Pigfarts. Love the Doctor
Summary: Rose and Scorpius can't stop their bickering. That all changes when they are given a task to do together by the genius/match-maker, Neville Longbottom.


Neville Longbottom walked into the Greenhouses, books balanced in his arms. He was preparing for his Fourth year, Gryffindor/Slytherin class, hoping that it would be more peaceful than usual as his pounding headache was being relentless. He waited at the top of the room as the students entered; giving small smiles to Albus and Rose, his best friends' kids. The class started off as usual, quiet listening and note taking turning in to loud, poorly-concealed conversations and blatant ignoring of everything he was saying.

About half way down the table, Neville noticed an argument beginning between two students. 'As always,' he thought to himself. With a flick of his wand, the plants they were holding grew to twice the size, causing the students to lose their grips on the pots and the plants hit the floor with a crash. Neville chuckled to himself as he waved his wand again and the wriggly, green tentacle stems shrunk to their normal size and the pot jumped back together as though it had never been broken.  
"Rose, Scorpius. See me after class." The red-haired Gryffindor blushed deeply in the signature Weasley way, while the young Malfoy just scratched the back of his head – looking very guilty.

The class ran almost smoothly after that, with only one of the plants meeting an early demise and three small injuries caused by clumsy students. The class slowly filed out of the Greenhouse, leaving Rose and Scorpius awkwardly behind. Neville looked between the two, shaking his head softly.  
"Scorpius, wait outside while I talk to Rose." Scorpius nodded his head, backing out of the room.  
"Rose," Neville began, "you're not in trouble." He could see the relief washing over her as he spoke. "I have chosen you to do an extension task. This will give you the chance to win some house points for Gryffindor." Rose looked stunned. "Only condition: You have to do it as a pair and I have chosen Scorpius as yours." Rose looked at him like he had just told her that her pet rabbit had passed away.  
"No. No, no, no. Absolutely not. No." She shook her head, turning away from the Herbology Professor.  
"That's disappointing, Miss Weasley." He knew how to deal with her, just like her mother. The girl halted where she stood. She turned slowly to face Neville, her eyes narrowed and small smile formed on his face; these actions only a common occurrence between the Professor and his (all-but) niece.  
"All you have to do is research a plant that we haven't looked at in class and tell me it's most fascinating feature." They continued to look at each other until Rose finally snapped.  
"Fine!" She said, turning back towards the door where Scorpius was waiting. As the doors opened and Scorpius looked up at the pair, Rose sighed.  
"What?" Scorpius asked.

They spent the rest of the day in the Library, trying to decide on the plant and then finding all the information on it as they could.  
"Can't we just say anything?" Scoripus whined as the fourth hour passed. Rose shook her head.  
"No, stupid! Professor Longbottom will know if we've just picked a random fact!" She sighed with emphasised exhasperation.

Finally they picked the exotic, Theodonius Pond Flower, found only in Greece. Rose excitedly read aloud what the book she held in her hand had on the water beauty.  
"It's found in three different colours, but the yellow one hasn't been seen since medieval times. The perfume it gives off is said to cause visions and, if you drink a soup made of its petals, all of your deepest desires will come true." When she was finished she looked up to find Scorpius dosing on the table behind her.  
"Scorpius!" She snapped, causing the Slytherin to jolt awake.  
"What!?" He yelled, then winced as they her the course voice of the very elderly, and surprisingly still alive, Madame Pince.  
"Quiet!" She softly hissed. Rose glared at Scorpius, who glared back in return.  
"I think this is the one we should use," Rose sighed, passing the book to her partner. Scorpius read through the pages containing the information on the flower and smiled.  
"This is great!" He whispered, careful not to get them kicked out. Rose smiled, surprised at his enthusiasm. "This is actually a really cool plant. Did you see that powder made from some crushed petals was added to the lacquer that was on the Mirror of Erised, giving it its fabled powers. Wow, I never knew that!" Scorpius looked back up at Rose, his smile fading slightly. "Great find," he said sharply. Roses smile dimmed.  
"Yeah, thanks."

They ran to the Teachers staff room to find Professor Longbottom. They knocked on the door and waited. While they did there was an awkward silence that was almost suffocatingly thick.  
"You did great," Rose whispered, a red glow appearing on her cheeks.  
"You weren't too horrible to work with as well," Scorpius admitted as the door swung open. Neville stood before them, a smile on his face.  
"Did you already finish?" He chuckled. They nodded softly. Rose took the lead and explained the plant they picked and Scorpius finished with the fact about the Mirror of Erised. Scorpius finished with a really bad joke, which caused the young Gryffindor to smile.  
"Don't listen to him, he was dropped on the head as an infant," She smirked. When they were finished they softly smiled at each other, causing the smile on the Professors face to widen.  
"Good job, thirty points to Gryffindor and Slytherin."

As the students walked away, Minerva approached the young Professor.  
"Was there really any extra assignment?" She asked.  
"No, I was just sick of their bickering. Hopefully that fixed it."

* * *

 **A/N: Written for the Speed drabble competition. Words: 973**


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